Contributed by Bob Chell, Lutheran Campus Ministry at South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota

Warm-up Question

As children, we sometimes misconstrue reality because we misinterpret what we see:  “Dad took me to watch firefighters train on an abandoned house. For years I thought firefighters drove around looking for run-down houses to burn and was scared they would burn down our house.”  

Sometimes we are mislead:  “When I was little, my Dad told me that the tune played by the ice cream van was the ice cream man letting everyone know that he’d run out of ice cream.”

What have you believed which turned out to be untrue?

Life Out of Doubt

A young woman lay dead; nearby, an abandoned truck was stuck in the mud.  The investigation was quick.  Within hours, police had suspects and by evening Greg Taylor and Johnny Beck were in jail, charged with murder.  Both were crack addicts who admitted they were only looking for their next high.  Johnny Beck was released before trial for reasons which are unclear. Greg Taylor was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.  That was sixteen years ago.  A month ago Greg Taylor was released from prison upon the recommendation of a special innocence panel which found “clear and convincing evidence” that Gregory F. Taylor was innocent and had been convicted based on flawed evidence and unreliable testimony.

Source:  (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/18/us/18innocent.html)

Discussion Questions

• Had this been you or someone you love, would you be grateful or bitter upon release after sixteen years?  How would you reconcile the two feelings?
• Have you ever had first-hand knowledge of a news story that didn’t match what you heard in the media?
• Have you passed on a story you later learned was untrue? What were the consequences for the person in the untrue story you passed on?  For you?
• Did you take any action upon learning the story was untrue?  What was the result? 

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, April 11, 20110 (Second Sunday of Easter)

Acts 5:27-32

Revelation 1:4-8

John 20:19-31

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings.)

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

Thomas stands in a long line of doubters stretching back to the beginning of the faith.  Abraham was skeptical that God could deliver on the promise of a son while Sarah, his wife, laughed in God’s face.  Moses doubted he could accomplish what God called him to do.  Gideon demanded proof.  Elijah ran away.  Jeremiah and Job—even Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane before his arrest and crucifixion—struggled with doubt.  One theologian notes that the only people in scripture who are certain of God’s will stone the prophets and crucify Jesus.

Doubt is not an enemy, but a friend.  Doubt keeps us from being a sucker for every get-rich, get-beautiful, get-saved scheme that comes along.  The danger is that, surrounded by pop-up ads and bogus invitations to wealth and intimacy, we will become cynical and cease to believe anything.

Yet, it is doubt that pushes us forward in life and faith.  Doubt is a way of life for high school and college students:  Doubting your major, doubting your current romance, doubting there will ever be a romance, doubting your career plans, doubting your faith.

Doubt is useful when it pushes us beyond the superficial to the substantive, when it pushes us to ask hard questions and look at life, and ourselves, with clear and open eyes.

Doubt is at the heart of education.  It drives the scientific method.  How does this work…what would happen if…can I prove…?

In our personal life doubt keeps us awake at night and commands our attention. It is unpleasant but useful, drawing us to attend to those things most important in our lives.  Doubt pushes us to change and grow.  It forces us to ask hard questions about faith, family, and vocation, the things which define who we are.

Doubt is not the end but the beginning.  Most of us, when plagued by doubt, try harder to figure it out, to think it through, to discern the truth—and we should.  Whom we choose as a life partner, the career we choose, the faith we embrace will shape and change the rest of our lives.

Easter isn’t about happy endings, Jesus springing up three days later so we can have Easter eggs, a new outfit and time off from school or work.  Easter is about a God who stands with us, suffers with us, even dies with us.

The poet Gerhard Frost once wrote: “Doubt gnaws at faith but faith gnaws back, and faith has better teeth.”  God’s promise is that Jesus can and will break through the locked and shut doors of our lives, the prison of doubt we live in.  Jesus comes through the wall, breaks in, and speaks “Peace be with you.”  God’s peace isn’t a promise that there will be no doubt, pain, struggle, indecision, or any of the other things which are part of being human, part of being in relationships. God’s peace is a promise to walk with us, to strengthen us, to sustain us, to forgive us, to challenge us.

The time for hunting Easter eggs is over, but if we are hunting for God working in our lives, we need only look where we doubt.  There we will find God’s Spirit moving us to growth and faith.

Discussion Questions

• Recall a time when you thought you would never be happy again.  Was God at work in you and others?
• How do we discern when doubt is useful and when it is useless?
• If doubt is a good thing, can we be certain about anything?

Activity Suggestions

• Ask several persons you love and trust if there was ever a time when they wanted to run away and leave their life behind because they were embarrassed, ashamed or in deep pain.  Ask what enabled them to survive that time and, looking back, how they see that God was at work in their lives during that time.
•  Reflect on a time when you were so unhappy you wanted to quit, give up, move, and get away from doubt and pain.  What enabled you to survive?  Is there a learning there for your faith?  for your future?

Closing Prayer

God of grace and mercy, we want to believe and trust your promises.  Give us courage and perseverance to confront the doubt and pain and brokenness in our lives.  Give us, also, the wisdom to know when to let go of broken dreams and move on.  Move our hearts to forgive others and ourselves, so we may live with Easter joy.  Amen.

There is no Faith Lens this week, however, you might ponder this artistic reflection on the holiest of mysteries intersecting the mundane.

"Easter Morning," James B Janknegt

Contributed by Claudia Bergmann, Erfurt, Germany

Warm-up Question

What was the worst day of your life?  the best?

The Best and the Worst

What would it feel like to receive the highest praise for your performance at school or on the job, and 24 hours later to have the same performance called the worst ever?

Sandra Bullock would know. Three weeks ago, she received two Golden Raspberries, awards for both the worst female lead of the year and the worst female part in a screen couple. Twenty-four hours later, she was awarded the Oscar for the” best actress in a leading role” for her performance in The Blind Side.

The Golden Raspberry award, first handed out in 1981, is a golf ball-sized depiction of a raspberry sitting on a film reel, spray-painted gold and worth $4.79. What started as an impromptu ceremony at the house of John Wilson is now covered by CNN and other major networks. While not everybody who was awarded a Golden Raspberry accepted it at the ceremony, Bullock showed her sense of humour by giving an acceptance speech and handing out copies of the worst movie of the year to the audience.

A day later, Bullock, who had taken a break from acting a few years ago because she did not consider herself good at her job, held 8.5 pounds of gold-plated britannium in her hand. This statuette, the so-called Oscar, was proof that she was good at her job as an actress.

Sandra Bullock became the first performer to receive both awards in the same year. While the Oscar will cement her position as one of the top-earning Hollywood screen stars, the “Razzie” might remind her of what it is like to be loved and hated at the same time for what you do.

Discussion Questions

• Do you follow the Oscars and other award shows? If so, do they influence your interest in seeing a movie?
• What types of movies do you like? Why?
• Who do you think should get an Oscar or a “Razzie” for a recent performance?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, March 28, 2010  (Sunday of the Passion/Palm Sunday)

Isaiah 50:4-9a

Philippians 2:5-11

Luke 22:14-23:56

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings.)

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

Our long reading for today is full of joy, love, and hope—but also fear, sadness, and hatred. It is also full of events that bring Jesus’ story to a close: the Last Supper, Simon Peter’s denial of Christ, Judas’ betrayal, Jesus’ trial, a prophecy to the daughters of Jerusalem, the crucifixion, and the deeds of Joseph of Arimathea. Our text is a lens which focuses on the worst and the best in the life of Jesus and his followers.

Take the disciples and their relationship to Jesus. First, they come together, eating and drinking as if they are a family. Their meal is the beginning of the Eucharist, when we remember Jesus’ life and deeds, and taste his presence in our lives. But soon, the family is torn apart and the worst happens. One disciple betrays Jesus, another denies that he ever knew him. And then, Joseph of Arimathea, who had never even been a disciple of Jesus, risks his life to provide Jesus with a proper funeral. The worst and the best behavior, all within a few hours.

Or take Jesus himself. He has so much to say in our text.  His emotions include loving care of those around him, utter despair, and absolute trust in God’s love. Jesus himself experiences the worst and the best of all emotions, and again, all within a few hours.

The journey of Jesus Christ and his disciples which we witness in today’s reading is not a straight and even path. On the contrary, it is full of ups and downs, extreme events and extreme emotions.

Guess what? Anyone who tells you that your faith journey will be a straight and even path is wrong!  All Christians go through ups and downs in their faith. There are times when we are certain of God’s presence in our lives. There are times when we truly feel and taste that Jesus Christ is present among us as we eat of his bread and drink of his wine. There are times when we look into the waters of baptism and have the feeling that God looks back at us. But there are other times as well. Times when we question God’s presence in our lives, when we doubt, when we even fear that we have lost our faith and might never find it again.

Faith doesn’t start at one point and grow continually after that. It gets stronger and it gets weaker.  It might disappear and then be reawakened within us with even greater strength. But there is one thing to remember. The ups and downs in our faith journey have to do with us, not with God. We believe that God’s love for us is a steady stream, something that does not grow or lessen depending on how we behave and feel.  Ups and downs in our faith life are normal and human. Sometimes the way is very clear and sometimes we are not so sure what God desires of us.  This is one of the reasons why Jesus could, on the one hand, pray that God would take this cup from him (Luke 22:42) and on the other hand trust his life into Gods hands (Luke 23:46). And it is one of the reasons why Simon Peter, who denied ever knowing Jesus, became once again a proud believer and a founder of the Christian community.  But at whatever point on the faith-scale we are, we can trust that God’s loving attention is ever upon us.

Discussion Questions

• What has been the absolute lowest point on your faith journey? What was the high point?
• How do you think the faith journey changes as one gets older? Does it get easier to believe? Does it get harder?
• Are there things which your family or your congregation can do to support you when your faith drops to a low point?

Activity Suggestions

Meet the Text Word-by-Word

Assign each person in your group a role in the gospel narrative. Have print-outs of the entire text and markers of different colors ready. Give individuals and groups of speakers time to read and mark up the entire text. You need the following speakers: a narrator, Jesus, Simon Peter, the disciples, a maid, a man at the fire, the men who mocked Jesus, the elders, Pilate, the soldiers at the cross, the criminal at the cross.  Then, have your group read the entire passage out loud.

Afterwards, discuss what they found out about the different characters as they spoke the words. What did the characters feel and think as they witnessed the last hours in the life of Christ? What did Jesus feel and think? What changes in the behaviour of the main characters occurred?

Faith Map

Ask your students to draw a faith map of their faith journey, marking important dates or events in their lives. Provide large sheets of paper, different pens, images, scrap-book materials, glue, etc. Give your students ample time to do this creative exercise and ask volunteers to share their faith maps with the group. Perhaps you can display the faith maps somewhere in your church.

Following One Disciple’s Up-and-Down Faith Journey: Simon Peter

Ask your students to research the life of Simon Peter as it is portrayed in the New Testament and in Christian art. Provide them with a few key scripture texts about Simon Peter to look up, along with art work reflecting his life. (For art work about Simon Peter go to www.textweek.com, “Peter”)  Similarly to the exercise above, ask your students to develop a faith map of Peter’s life which you can display in your church.

Some Scripture texts about Simon Peter: Mat 14:28-31, Mat 16:13-20, Mark 1:16-17, Mark 1:29-31, Luke 5:4-11, Luke 24:1-12, John 1:44, John 13:2-11, John 20:1-9, John 21:15-17, Acts 4:7-22, Acts 9:32-10:2, Galatians 2:11-14. You might also use this exercise to explain to your students how to use a  concordance  to look up biblical phrases or names. If your group is large enough, they might be able to look up all occurrences of the name Simon Peter in a concordance.

Closing Prayer

Faithful God,  we experience highs and lows in our faith, ups and downs, times of certainty and times of doubt. We pray that you meet us on our faith journey in whatever corner we might be hiding. We pray that you pick us up and show us the way when we fall. And we pray that you show us people with whom we might share our faith, if we happen to have an overabundance of it. Amen.

Contributed by Jay Gamelin, pastor at Jacob’s Porch, a Lutheran campus mission to The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

Warm-up Question

What is the one thing (thing means object, not person) you think you could not give away if someone who really needed it asked for it? Why?

Smells Like Frankincense

The royal family of Oman wants the world to know that frankincense is the scent of Gold, both figuratively and literally.  Twenty-five years ago the royal family of Oman commissioned a French perfumer to create a fragrance for the nation of Oman and “Gold”, the name of the fragrance created, is considered by many to be one of the greatest perfumes. For 25 years the company has sold this perfume for a non-recession-fearing price of $230 for a 50ml bottle, about 1.7oz.  Currently it sells through many department stores in Europe, Russia, the U.S. and Asia.  The royal family is now looking to move into the European markets by opening a store in London.  As  the family grows its presence, it hopes to grow its coffers as well.

Analysts at Goldman Sachs estimate that the global beauty industry (consisting of skin care products worth $24 billion; make-up, $18 billion; hair-care products, $38 billion; and $15 billion of perfumes) is growing at up to 7% a year, more than twice the rate of the developed world’s GDP. The sector’s market leader, L’Oreal, has had compound annual profits growth of 14% for 13 years. Sales of Beiersdorf’s Nivea have grown at 14% a year over the same period.

Discussion Questions

• What perfumes or colognes do you like or use?  How much would you be willing to pay for this perfume?
• What is one beauty product you would be willing to give up for the rest of your life?  What is one beauty product you would not give up?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, March 21, 2010 (Fifth Sunday of Lent)

Isaiah 43:16-21

Philippians 3:4b-14

John 12:1-8

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings.)

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Gospel Reflection

It’s a hard lesson this week.  In the face of the way Americans consume the world’s resources (6% of the world’s population consuming 43% of the world’s resources) it seems you would want to be on the side of Judas Iscariot.  Why waste this perfume when it could be sold and given to the poor?  I know what he is saying—I even agree!  How could we allow such waste, especially when it comes to something one could call frivolous and luxurious like perfume?  No one on the planet needs perfume.  It is only a luxury with no point other than to smell good.

But Jesus rebukes Judas.  He says it is time for perfume.  He remarks that it is not time to be without.  It has a place, this waste. Jesus gives permission for excess.  Jesus says it is OK to overdo it.  What gives?  How is there value in throwing money away?

We are surrounded by darkness.  We see the problems of the world every day.  The temptation is to pour our whole selves solely into saving the world in any way that we can.  But Jesus points us to the idea that we must not always address the dark.  Sometimes we are called to celebrate in the light.  Sometimes we must sing, even if the poor are still poor.  Sometimes we need to eat well, even feast, even if there are hungry people in the world.  We are not called to a life without; instead, we are called to a life of moderation. 

As the Buddhist tenet says, “everything in moderation including moderation.”  We can fast but we must also learn to feast when it is the right time. We must learn when to go without and when to spend prodigally. As the poet Jack Gilbert argues in his remarkable and wonderful poem “A Brief for the Defense”, we must risk the ability to delight in the world.  Indeed, Gilbert goes so far as to argue that only to pay attention to injustice is akin to praising the devil. We must learn to love beauty, to enjoy company, to celebrate when the time is right, and to love a beautiful and wonderful world, even in the face of injustice.

We must learn to live with what we have, but this means having room to celebrate, to feast, to enjoy as well. We must feast when the bridegroom is present. We must risk delight.

Quotables:

For a copy of Jack Gilbert’s “A Brief for the Defense”, pick up a copy of “Refusing Heaven” at your local bookseller.  For a chance to read the poem, visit the Poetry center at Smith College website:  http://www.smith.edu/poetrycenter/poets/abrief.html

Discussion Questions

• What is something you “feast” on, something that helps you celebrate life?  (i.e. music, eating with friends, dates with your beloved, buying gifts)  What would life feel like without this feasting?  How would it feel to lose this forever?
• This “thing” that you feast on, what would it look like to live this in moderation? Could you put limits on what you spend?  What time you give?

Activity Suggestion

The Essentials:  Have every person in the group sit down with pencil and paper.  They are going to take a trip, let’s say to Paris, for two weeks.  Have each person take about 5 minutes to write down a packing list.  Try to think of everything they would want to bring.

After they go, have everyone share their lists with one another.  If someone says the same thing as on your list, cross it off your lists. If someone says 2 pairs of pants, cross two off but leave the 3rd. After everyone shares, see what items remain on people’s lists that have not been crossed off.  Then discuss:

• These things left on your list, do you consider them essentials?  Why or why not?  What would happen if you left these behind?
• These things everyone crossed off, which of these things do you think you could do without in traveling?  What would happen if you left them behind?
• How do you decide what is necessary in life?  What guides your decisions?  Is it how you feel?  What you think?

Closing Prayer: 

Jesus, we celebrate your presence.  We feast with you every Sunday.  We thank you that we may live a life of plenty.  But also teach us God with what we should do with our plenty.  Teach us moderation so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways.  In your holy name we pray, AMEN.

Contributed by Joycelyn Breeland, Fairfax, VA.

Warm-up Question

How much do the adults in your life trust you?

I Spy

The FBI is investigating the claim of 16-year-old Blake Robbins that his high school illegally spied on him using the webcam in his school-issued computer.

Robbins says his school’s assistant principal accused him of selling drugs and popping pills in his bedroom. He says she backed up the accusation with a photograph taken by the laptop’s built-in webcam.  Blake denies dealing or using illicit drugs.  He says the images show him eating candy. 

The Lower Merion School District issued laptop computers, equipped with webcams, to all of the approximately 2,300 high school students in the district.  School officials deny any wrong doing.  They say they are not spying on students and only activate the webcams to help locate missing laptops.

Discussion Questions

• Is it OK for the school district to use webcams to locate school property?
• Why would it be a problem for the school to activate the webcams on laptops they own?
• Does it matter how the school got the evidence if Robbins was engaged in illegal activity?

Scripture Texts (NRSV) for Sunday, March 14, 2010 (Fourth Sunday in Lent)

(Text links are to Oremus Bible Browser. Oremus Bible Browser is not affiliated with or supported by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. You can find the calendar of readings for Year C at Lectionary Readings.)

For lectionary humor and insight, check the weekly comic Agnus Day.

Joshua 5:9-12

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Gospel Reflection

Today’s Gospel is a well-known story. The generous father reminds us that God’s love is extravagant to the point of seeming  reckless.  We go astray.  But no matter how far we go, how unworthy our behavior, God longs to welcome us back into the fold. 

The waiting father models how we are called to behave toward each other.  We pray, “forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors,” but our forgiveness is often grudging.  In contrast, the father clearly yearns to welcome his son back home.  He sees the boy while he is far away and runs to him.  The son can not even get out his well-rehearsed apology before the party is on.  Following the father’s example, we strive to forgive absolutely, rejoicing at the restoration of a relationship with someone who has wronged us. 

Sometimes we are like the younger son, striking out on our own, overly confident in our abilities.  We forget how much we need the father.  This inevitably leads to trouble.  When that happens, we, like the prodigal, need to remember that our father is merciful and compassionate.  No matter how far we go down destructive paths, we can find our way home.  Mistakes are painful and costly.  Our poor decisions cause a lot of suffering. The certainty of God’s care is no excuse for failing to weigh our choices carefully.  Still, when we find ourselves staring at a dead end, Jesus reminds us that the long journey we begin with repentance in the pig sty ends with a welcome, a ring, and a fatted calf.

Discussion Questions

• If the father in the story represents God, what is the inheritance we might each expect? 
• The family in today’s Gospel is clearly wealthy.  What could have motivated the son to leave this comfort in the first place? 
• Verse 17 says the younger son came to his senses.  What does this mean?  Has this happened to you? 
• Can you identify with the older son’s reaction in verses 28 ­– 30? 
• What does the father’s answer to his older son say to us about God’s love?

 Activity Suggestion

Design a t-shirt which communicates your understanding of this week’s lesson.  Think beyond simply picturing a scene from the biblical story.  Use words and graphics which would grab the attention of folks in your school.

Closing Prayer

Loving and forgiving Father God, we thank you for the rich inheritance you offer each of us.  Help us not to squander your gifts, remembering that all we have and are comes from you.  Call to us when we stray and bring us quickly back to our senses.  In the name of Jesus, whose sacrifice has secured for us eternal life and a home with you, Amen.